Monday, 21 January

15:05

Phillipa McGuinness, The Year Everything Changed: 2001 (2018)
Phillipa McGuinness reminds us in her preface to
The Year Everything Changed that in 1988, the
bicentenary of James Cooks visit to Australias east coast, a number
of substantial books called slice histories were published:
Continue reading

Brought to you by the City Of Sydney

09:13

Photos by Stuart Bucknell, full album on our Facebook page
Timber and Steel loves a good festival, and Woodford is no
exception. The premiere Folk Festival is forever growing and
developing to highlight and showcase both the beauty of the natural
surrounds, and a diverse array of musical greats and emerging
artists. The beauty of []

Sunday, 20 January

05:30

Makeda brings an avant-garde sensibility to underground club
music with Me, First, the lead single off an upcoming EP which
explores the colonial histories of Australia and the UK

Melbourne-based musician, DJ and artist Makeda creates
imaginative dance music with a left-field sonic palette and an
implicit social commentary. Taking a holistic approach to her
artistic undertakings, Makeda brings an avant-garde sensibility to
underground club music. Her dedication to experimentation and
storytelling have seen her perform at Dark Mofo, Soft Centre, Vivid
and Next Wave alongside artists like Oscar Key Sung and Air Max
97.

Drawing on her familial connection to Londons Afro-Caribbean
community, Makedas indebtedness to jungle, breakbeat and bass music
is on display in Me, First, the murky first single off her upcoming
EP Lifetrap. At the same time, Lifetrap
represents an estrangement from that heritage. I was fascinated by
how I was connected to the community at the same time as feeling
really isolated from it. Im coming at it like an alien she says of
the project, and this sense of alienation comes through on Me,
First. The track, released on Melbourne label Nice Music,
deploys techno textures and a deep low end to maximum effect.

Saturday, 19 January

17:51

Take Me To Town, the 3CD, 47 track compilation of contemporary
Australian alt-country music is heading to Tamworth 2019, with a
very special showcase gig featuring an all-star line-up of Ben
Leece & Left Of The Dial, Katie Brianna, The Weeping Willows,
Hana & Jessie-Lee, Lachlan Bryan, Jen Mize and Mitch Power. If
you are Continue
reading

17:37

The poet Mary Oliver died yesterday, aged 83. Ive only blogged
about one of her books, here, and didnt say much about it. But
every time Ive read one of her poems in a book lying around in a
Continue
reading

Thursday, 17 January

15:16

Alexis Wright,
Tracker: Stories of Tracker Tilmouth (Giramondo
2017) This is a book of yarns. Ill start this blog post with one of
them. In the mid 1990s at the Gulf of Carpentaria, Murrandoo Yanner
was involved in negotiations with Ian Williams, the general
Continue reading

Wednesday, 16 January

20:43

Hayesville caught our ear with this rich and stately vocal
sound. Hes a Swedish singer songwriter now based in Cologne,
Germany and he counts Songs: Ohia as an influence which instantly
makes him a winner in our book. Its a classic sound that he goes
for, quite baroque at times, a gothic Americana of sorts
Continue reading

Tuesday, 15 January

20:44

All The Best is FBis flagship storytelling show and podcast
produced at FBi Radio in Sydney in association with SYN and
Triple R in Melbourne. Executive Producer Allison Chan shares her
favourite episodes of 2018 to whet your appetite for a new year of
new Australian storytelling.

12:36

We start the show with a bit of unfinished business from last,
with 2 more episodes left on Beauty and this week its James
Franklin with Beauty and Mathematics.

My special guest at 11:00 am is Andrew Tink, auth pr Honeysuckle
Creek: The Story of Tome Reid, A Little Dish and Neil Armstrongs
First Step. It will be 50 years this year since that historic
footstep and the story is still as thrilling today.

08:01

Rumour has it that PJ will return to retake the chair on Dial
Afrika next week, January 16 at 9am. By popular demand,
humbled and excited to continue a program he started seven years
ago, theres every chance that this could be more than mere
rumour.

Returning from a 6 month sabbatical during which took him to
Thailand on a Holistic Health Getaway and to climb the mountain Mae
Taeng, (lady lying down) in Chiang Mai. A feat he says, has to be
included on his bucket list.
Dial Afrika is real Afrikan radio highlighting arts, culture,
history and the very best in sounds and music from across the
continent and Global Afrikan Community.

For his first show, listeners will be treated to some almost
forgotten favourites, and a special segment highlighting some new
releases from some of Southern Afrikas new and young generation of
artists, composers and performers.

To verify if this is rumour or not, tune in to Eastside Radio
89.7FM 9am Jan. 16, eastsidefm.org (on demand) on the
worldwide web.Dont miss this first of many, and let music be the
link that unites us!

Monday, 14 January

16:21

Sydney artist Elsen Price has released a global sounds single
Birth: The Spirit Begins a lead single from his album Death of the
Spirit and the Rise of the Pointless. Encapsulating emotions into his music, Birth: The Spirit
Begins is a new classical instrumental single filled with
double-bass grooves that tells the story of human expression
without any words.

On the single, Elsen said, The single is an
expression of an individual before they succumb to the categorical
life, with a freedom of ideas, moods, passion and
pursuit,

The highly anticipated album, Death of the
Spirit and the Rise of the Pointless is a creative expression of
the continuing development in Global Culture for the systematic
organising and labelling of all individual people.

On the album, Elsen said, Any moments of being
silly, wrong, right, arrogant, humble, progressive, conservative,
caring, oppressive or any activity slightly against the mundane and
normal, is filmed, written about, photographed, supported,
destroyed or even worshiped,

This 5-track-album conceptualises the decline
of human connection to its environment and reality, and the rise of
inhuman order, control, rules, regulations and limits.

Elsen Price is an Australian Double Bassist and
composer based in Sydney, Australia. As a featured artist, Elsen
has performed both locally and internationally at BassEurope
(Prague), Yilan International Art Festival (Taipei), Audio
Foundation (Auckland), Sydney Festival, Vivid Festival, MONA and
Woodford Folk Festival.

With over 20 years experience as a bass player,
Elsen has performed alongside Josh Groban (Multi Grammy Award
Winning), Mike Patton (Faith No More), Lee R...

16:04

This critically acclaimed outdoor theatre production delivers
music, songs, and laughs. There is fun for young and old as
the Head Chief Rabbit transforms the audience into
rabbits with a waggle of the ears and a wiggle of the nose. The
young rabbits are encouraged to get involved in the action and are
given every opportunity to scream out loud, sing along and become
part of the adventure. With laughs and surprises for children and
adults, this is interactive theatre at its best.

Celebrating 16 years in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney,
The Wind in the Willows is Australias best-loved affordable family
entertainment, so pack a picnic, grab the kids and join in the
fun!

12:17

At age 24 Jessica is set for a long and successful
sporting career in both Canoe and Kayak. Her love of white water
events is no surprise as both her parents were coaches of the
Australian Olympic team in these events.

Her eyes are very much on the future both with her rigorous
training regime and her studies in Psychology.

With seven World Championship gold medals in individual events
she is the most successful paddler, male or female, in World
Championship history.

She chats to GT Tuesday 3pm and shares the music that inspires
her.

If youd like to see Jess in action she is about to compete in
international events at the Penrith Whitewater
Stadium (8-10 and 15-17 February). Both these events are free
for spectators.

06:02

Richard F Thomas, Why Dylan Matters (Dey Street
2017) Ive been a Dylan fan for five decades. I remember playing
John Wesley Harding on repeat in the late 60s, and sitting hunched
over a tiny radio in the dead of night hearing a
Continue reading

Saturday, 12 January

18:36

Joseph Jarman (September 14, 1937 January 9, 2019) 82yo. was a
jazz musician, composer, and Shinshu Buddhist priest. He was one of
the first members of the Association for the Advancement of
Creative Musicians and a member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Jarman grew up in Chicago, Illinois. At DuSable High School he
studied drums with Walter Dyett, switching to saxophone and
clarinet when he joined the United States Army after graduation.[1]
During his time there, he was part of the 11th Airborne Division
Band for a year.[2]
The AACM and his solo band

After he was discharged from the army in 1958, Jarman attended
Wilson Junior College, where he met bassist Malachi Favors
Maghostut and saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell, Henry Threadgill, and
Anthony Braxton. These men would often perform long jam sessions at
the suggestion of their professor Richard Wang (now with Illinois
University). Mitchell introduced Jarman to pianist Muhal Richard
Abrams, and Jarman, Mitchell, and Maghostut joined Abrams
Experimental Band, a private, non-performing ensemble, when that
group was founded in 1961. The same group of musicians continued to
play together in a variety of configurations, and went on to found
the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) in
1965, along with Fred Anderson and Phil Cohran.

Jarmans solo recording career began at this time with two
releases on the Delmark Label which included non-conforming
recording methods, such as spoken word and little instruments, the
latter a technique that Jarman and Mitchell would use to
effectiveness in the Art Ensemble.[1] The band he fronted and used
during these recordings between 1966 and 1968 included Fred
Anderson (tenor sax), Billy Brimfield (trumpet), Charles Clark
(bass), Christopher Gaddy (piano) and Thurman Barker (drums).
However, in 1969 Clark and Gaddy both died and Jarman disbanded his
group.
The Art Ensemble of Chicago and Equal Interest

Shortly after his bandmates Clark and Gaddy died in 1969, Jarman
joined Mitchell, Maghostut and Lester Bowie (trumpet) in the Roscoe
Mitchell Art Ensemble in 1967; the group would be later
rounde...

Friday, 11 January

15:16

Anderson .Paak dropped in to Arvos with Tommy Codling and, with
both of them perched on the mixing desk as per A.Ps pre-interview
demands, they chatted about his latest album Oxnard and
all the intense collabs contained therein.

They also got into drumming while singing, touristing while
touring and going (v politely) head to head with Dre in the
studio,

Yeah [Dre] mixed the whole record. Forty-two times. Haha nah
seemed like it Were both control freaks I think we were driving
each other crazy. Id be like Ah, Dre do you think, um, I think the
drums are just a little thin and hed be like I was listening back
at the beach house and I wanna change this and that, and I dont
know about this song. But it was cool to have a co-pilot, someone
of his stature.

Collaboration is integral to .Paaks process and on
Oxnard he relished the chance to witness his collaborators
processes. From sending a track to the relentlessly in-demand
Kendrick Lamar with fingers crossed, to working from the ground up
with J. Cole, to watching Dre and Q-Tip build it old school brick
by brick.

They also chatted about the hometown camaraderie that binds his
band The Free Nationals, the late great Mac Miller, and getting
tight with Kendrick. Listen to the whole thing up top.

13:17

This Week in Folk All the News From The Week That Was Releases
This Week CMAA: Winners 2019 Various iTunes Timber and Steel
Recommends Go To This Gig The Fretless Friday 11th to Sunday 13th
January Cygnet Folk Festival, Cygnet, TAS Wednesday 16th January
Rosny Farm, Rosny Park, TAS Thursday 17th []

11:53

A veteran of the music industry at age 20, UK wunderkind Mahalia
makes soul-pop thats equal parts wise, playful and self-assured.
Coincidentally this is also the ingredients list for her interview
on Arvos with Tanya Ali.

Ahead of a run of sold out debut Australian shows, Mahalia swung
by the studio to chat about songwriting, a kangaroo named Dot and
the white male-dominated music industry as traversed by a young
woman of colour from outside the city:

[When I got signed] there wasnt one person in the beginning
that I felt I could relate to cos at first it was like theres no
women here and then it was like hold on now theres women but theres
no women of colour here whos going to understand me?

The chat wound through dream collabs, why Mahalia writes about
love all the time (because just let me be a 20 year old whos living
a 20 year olds life ok?), Falls Festival, Field Day and Cardi Bs
undeniable queen-ness:

This is me speaking as a fan who generally loves her, even I
sometimes watch her instagram and Im like ugh, girl what are you
doing? But watching her on stage I was like you are amazing and you
are a superstar, and I think people have to respect that.

Wednesday, 09 January

10:13

John Purcell, The Girl on the Page (Fourth
Estate 2018) This is a quick, fun read about the current parlous
state of fiction publishing set in London, written by an Australian
whose biographical note says that, like one of the books
characters, he
Continue reading

Monday, 07 January

16:26

The second club night of the summer pulled together two of
Sydneys favourite on air shows for a night of thumping floor
fillers. When Switch hits the decks its coiled up club sounds that
get limbs working overtime and when Sidechains are in the house its
pulsing, high energy club music in force. But, when the two come
together its an all out club-ready super mix thats every electro
punters dream.

Joining the two superpowers on the night were very special
guests Ninajirachi and Sophiegrophy who both made level 4 of the
Kings Cross Hotel rumble. While Denzel Sterling, Sandro Dallarmi,
Kilimi and Isa all flexed their unique take on club music from
Sydney and beyond.

Saturday, 05 January

18:09

SIMA is back at the Sound Lounge in 2019 with the
JAZZ NOW Summer Series and a wonderful guitar special to mark the
occasion. inner of the 2010 Freedman Jazz Fellowship,
guitarist Ben Hauptmann leads a stripped back, fully acoustic
ensemble, playing music from his two albums and a collection of new
material.

Winner of the 2010 Freedman Jazz Fellowship, guitarist Ben
Hauptmann leads a stripped back, fully acoustic ensemble, playing
music from his two albums and a collection of new
material. Ben Hauptmann is a prestigious guitarist/composer
based on the Central Coast in NSW. Winner of the 2010 Freedman Jazz
Fellowship and 2nd place winner in the 2007 National Jazz Awards at
the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz.

Ben has worked a diverse range of artists including Dr G
Yunupingu, Bandaluzia Flamenco, Katie Noonan, Lior, Justine Clarke,
Vince Jones, Dami Im, Jack Ladder, Bluejuice, Micheline Van Hautem,
Bertie Blackman, Donny Benet, Meow Meow and Tal Wilkenfeld. Ben has
contributed to many recordings including the 2015 ARIA winning The
Gospel Album by Dr G Yunupingu, he has released two albums under
his own name and has produced and co-produced multiple others.

17:01

The City of Sydney is the local government authority responsible
for the city centre and more than 30 suburbs within our
boundaries. They provide essential local services, including
their network of libraries, which provides a variety of free
resources to you. These include borrowing books, magazines, toys,
emovies, ebooks, ecomics and more.

Now, the City of Sydneys Library is opening up more creative
opportunities for you!

Want to learn how to enhance digital images, design layouts or
create graphics? Affordable short Adobe courses (running between 2
and 4 hours) are now on offer! Learn the basics or boost your
skills with courses to suit complete beginners through to Advanced.
Courses are available for Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator!

Affordable Adobe short courses are on
offer now

Or perhaps youd be more interested in borrowing a guitar, or
playing retro video games for free? Well the City of Sydneys newest
library in Green Square is extending their free services to you!
Members get free access to use acoustic and electric guitars and
borrow retro video game consoles like Atari and mobile streaming
devices. Library membership is free if you live in NSW! You can
even hire a music room for rehearsals, with a baby grand piano
available to you!

...

16:58

The Jungle Book The Next Chapter is a fun-filled, energetic
musical adventure that invites the audience to join in the action
when Baloo the bear and Mowgli, the young orphan boy raised in the
jungle by wolves meet again several years after Mowgli has left the
jungle.

Together, through a concert style-show full of original songs,
interactive fun and multimedia, they bring to life Mowglis exciting
escapades growing up in the jungle with Bagheera the black panther,
Kaa the python, Shere Kahn the tiger, the cheeky Monkeys and the
Jackal.

Adapted by Glenn Elston with music by Paul Norton

High energy performanceskeeps smiles on the faces of
kids of all agesa crowd pleaser A rumble in the jungle that takes
some beating! The Herald Sun

Great hysterical fun for the whole family, thoroughly
recommended The Age

11:53

As regular readers know, every now and then this blog bursts
into rhyme. This has been happening in November for nine years now,
and occasionally at other times. Ive just published through
Lulu.com the fourth hard copy collection of these Continue reading

Monday, 24 December

08:18

Were so proud to be a part of Barnardos Gifts for Kids as part
of our Xmas Supporter Drive. And by the sounds of it theyre pretty
happy with us too

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Because of YOUR help, your direct involvement with our 2018
Gifts for Kids appeal, we surpassed our goal of reaching over
10,000 gifts for the first time ever!

The number of gifts we estimate that were received either by way
of direct donation to us or by purchasing a gift online was more
than 11,400!

We also received cash donations over the value of $20,000! Part
of this money went to the specific purpose to purchase movie
vouchers which was our biggest ask from our centres.

To our corporate and small business partners, schools,
volunteers, community groups and families who all contributed to
the success of this years appeal, we thank you from the bottom of
my heart! The number of people that volunteered to help in our
storeroom, the community spirit to hold gift and toy drives, those
that drove to our storeroom at Wentworth Park, Wentworth Park for
allowing us use of the space (and Sunny!), the sorting, the
packing, eating chocolate and more the success of this is because
of you all!

We feel very humbled and privileged to have been part of this
appeal and meeting you all either through your volunteering
services, your toy/gift drives, phone calls and email
conversations. We would like to say so much more, but those of you
that have met me, know how easily we tear up with this appeal and
how we know it helps so many in our care.

Below is just a small little thank you video our team put
together. We hope you enjoy it!

Thank you again from all of us at Barnardos and the Gifts for
Kids Team and we hope we can work together once again for the 2019
appeal.